Healthy Couscous and Chicken Mason Jar Salads

Healthy meals are an important part of getting you through a busy day. Not only do they need to be healthy, but they also need to be quick and simple to make. Everyone has heard of the mason jar salads but not everyone has given them a shot! This is a super simple mason jar salad recipe that’ll make it easy to eat healthy no matter where you’re headed for the day.

The ingredients in this one are simple too! I started off with 1 whole chicken breast, grilled and chopped. 1 cucumber – diced, 1 small roma tomato – diced, 1/2 red onion – diced, 1 cup of couscous – cooked, a couple pieces of butter lettuce – chopped, some shaved parmesan and a light vinaigrette.

You can use a store-bought organic salad dressing, or simply whisk together white balsamic, olive oil, a couple slices of jalapeño, salt and pepper for a simple and spicy dressing.

For the chicken breast, you can either make one at home, or buy the pre-grilled chicken breasts from the store. Check out the simple recipe for chicken breast below!

The next step is the simplest part! All you really need to do is stack these babies in your mason jars! For this recipe I made two small mason jar salads. One for lunch and one for a snack between dinner. If you’re looking for a heftier mason jar salad, feel free to put all of the above ingredients into one larger mason jar for a full, filling lunch or dinner!

Once you’ve filled everything in, screw on the cap! Carry it to work right side up if you can and store in the refrigerator. Once you’re ready to eat it, all you have to do is shake it up!

Once it’s shaken – dig in! That’s literally all you need to do!

Grilled Chicken Breast

Ingredients

1 Chicken Breast – Pounded thin

Salt + Pepper to taste

Lemon Juice

1 tsp Smoked Paprika

1 clove garlic – minced

1 tablespoon coconut oil

Directions

Season your chicken with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, minced garlic and lemon juice after you’ve pounded it thin. Place your chicken in a bowl and cover with seran wrap. Let sit in the fridge for at least an hour but overnight the flavors will really sink in!

Remove your chicken from the fridge and let it come to room temperature. If you cook your chicken breast straight from the fridge, it can cook unevenly.

Once your chicken has come to room temperature, heat up a cast iron or other heavy bottomed pan on the stove. Grease your pan with your coconut oil and cook for about 5 minutes per side at medium-high heat.

Both sides should be lightly browned. Once they’re browned, turn the heat off and cover with a lid. Let sit for about 8 minutes until cooked through.